


"I can't take this anymore." - Day 2

by berry_howlter



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, FebuWhump2021, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berry_howlter/pseuds/berry_howlter
Summary: Bucky knows that something feels wrong, but can he pinpoint the problem before it's too late?More Bucky Barnes whump for day 2 of Febuwhump2021. I didn't want to go too hard with this one so it's just slight whump.This work is a slight continuation of day 1 (just contextual, but could be read as a standalone if you really wanted to!)**TW - swearing, slight violence, mild intentional harm**
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2158884
Kudos: 6





	"I can't take this anymore." - Day 2

The compound was filled with laughter and loud voices when Bucky and Steve arrived back from a mission. It hadn’t been a difficult one and was over within a couple of days. They’d managed to sort things out with the FBI and SHIELD and be debriefed too, and they were both looking forward to a few days off with the rest of the team.

“Hey guys!” Steve said when they entered the communal area where most of the avengers were sat. Many of them waved or said hi in response, not really looking at them until Bucky walked more into the room. They then fell silent, turning to look at him. Wanda grew pale and excused herself, leaving the room in a hurry. The rest of the team not daring to meet his eyes. He huffed and headed straight to his room for a shower. Bucky asked Friday to lock his door then began to peel off his suit, he hadn’t taken it off since they’d left two days ago so it was a huge relief when he finally got to remove it. He spent a moment looking at his reflection in the mirror. He looked tired, and there was a set to his jaw that hadn’t been there before he got off the Quinjet. He made a point to unclench his teeth and stretch his aching muscles before turning the shower on to as hot as he could stand it, then got into the shower to wash the grime off his body.

Bucky was partway through shampooing his hair when Friday alerted him that there was someone at his door.  
“Tell them I’ll be out in a minute; I’ll just finish off in here.” He said to the AI.  
“Of course, sir” Friday responded. Bucky made no effort to speed up the end of his shower. His visitor could wait whilst he scorched himself under the burning water to try and rid himself of the funny feeling crawling up his spine. It had been doing that every time he was in the compound since the training mission catastrophe. He’d forgiven Wanda immediately, making sure that he found her as soon as he was discharged by Dr Cho to tell her as such. Tony had taken a little longer, and he was still quite pissed with him for suggesting cheating in the first place, but even Bucky couldn’t deny that no one knew how Wanda’s powers would have affected him.

The problem was that everyone had begun to treat him like glass. It was a though they thought one wrong move would send him dropping to the floor again. He couldn’t get it across to them, that it was a one-time thing, so they continued to avoid him as best they could. All of them except Steve of course, Steve knew that Bucky was fine but even reassurances from his best friend didn’t stop him from feeling like an outcast; especially after he had put so much effort into building the Avengers’ trust. He sighed heavily and turned off the shower, grabbing a towel to wrap around his waist. 

Upon opening the door, he was greeted with the presence of Peter Parker, Tony Stark’s protégée, who looked like he was going to be sick with nerves.  
“Hello Mr… um Mr Bucky Sir.” Peter mumbled. Bucky moved to walk past him and begin to dry off and get dressed.  
“Hey kid, is everything okay?” He didn’t look over at Peter as he talked, trying to make the boy as comfortable around him as possible, make him see that he was just as normal as he had been before the accident. Peter swallowed.  
“Um yeah- yeah, Mr Stark got takeout and wondered if you wanted to join us? He got shawarma.” Peter was fidgeting, clearly feeling very awkward. His eyes grew wide as he suddenly had a realisation. “But- but if you don’t like shawarma, we can get something else! You don’t have to have that! Just tell me what you want instead, and I’ll get it for you.”  
Bucky sighed again, feeling anger rise up in his chest, but he reigned it in, the kid was just trying to be nice.  
“Shawarma sounds great Peter! Tell Tony I’ll be out in 5 minutes.” Peter nodded quickly and then turned to leave. “Oh, and Peter?” Peter stopped short at his name, practically holding his breath. “Tell those guys to save me some, we both know what they’re like!” Bucky watched as Peter nodded again and hurried out of the door, closing it behind him. 

Bucky sighed heavily and finished off getting dressed. He tried his best to remove the bad mood he was currently in from his facial expression, but it didn’t seem to be working. He was just so mad at his friends, and at himself, for changing everything. For treating him like he was something to be scared of or careful about. He was a super soldier for Christ’s sake! He collected himself and exited his room, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a nice shirt, with the top 3 buttons undone as he was too hot from his shower.

The room went silent as he entered, for the second time that day. Bucky plastered a smile onto his face and sat down at the large table. Steve pushed a box towards him, and conversation tentatively resumed. It was very clear that they were all avoiding having to engage with him in both nervousness and something else – something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The hushed conversations continued whilst he ate, and he felt anger begin to build up in him. His food started to taste a bit like carboard, his metal hand clenching involuntarily.

“That’s enough!” he yelled, slamming his fist onto the table. He noticed that Peter jumped at the noise, but he didn’t have the capacity to feel guilty in that moment. Everyone’s eyes were on him, staring in shock. “I’m damn sick of you all treating me like a piece of glass! I’m not just gonna fucking shatter in front of you.” He took a deep shaking breath, staring down at the table.  
“I can’t take this anymore. I feel like an outcast all over again, and I didn’t even do anything!” 

Steve reached over and grasped his hand, shooting him a small smile as he did so. A hint of pride was visible on his face, which meant that Steve had been waiting for this outburst for quite a while. There was a beat of silence whilst the group processed what had just happened. Surprisingly, Peter was the first to speak up.

“I’m sorry we made you feel like that Mr Buck- sorry, Bucky,” he corrected himself quickly, “I promise not to get nervous talking to you anymore. I actually really like you.” Bucky smiled gently at him, grateful for the vote of confidence.

Tony then spoke up.

“I take full blame for all of this. I called a meeting whilst you were knocked out in the medbay, and I told everyone to be careful around you. I just felt so guilty for being the cause of the Wanda-“ Wanda shot him a dark look, “I mean – the training incident – that I didn’t want to risk it happening again.” He stood slowly and looked directly at Bucky, outstretching an arm as an offering for a handshake. “If I promise not to make decisions like that without your consent again, will you promise not to scare the shit out of my kid again?”

A peace offering. Bucky hesitated.

“I promise everything will go back to normal.” Tony looked thoughtful, “we can even rent one of those shitty 80’s action movies you like for movie night and I’ll force everyone to watch the whole damn thing.”

“Promise?”

Tony chuckled, “Yeah, I promise.”

Bucky nodded and stood, grasping Tony’s outstretched arm in his flesh one, shaking it firmly. The glint of humour had returned to his eye and he looked contemplative as he sat back down.

“I think I’ll go for Terminator for movie night, I don’t think we’ve watched it enough.” Bucky joked. There was a collective round of groans and chuckles from the group as the avengers softened around him once more. The conversations restarted with a renewed vigour and Bucky smiled, pleased that things could finally go back to the way they were. Steve grinned at him.

“I knew you’d do that sooner rather than later.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Sam and I had a bet on how long it would take you to lose your cool. He said a week, I said 3 days.” Steve paused, smiling, “Sam owes me 10 bucks.” He began laughing as Bucky whacked him in the chest, and Sam grumbled on his other side, discreetly passing over the money from his losing bet.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed day 2! I really love writing this series so I hope it reflects in my stories.
> 
> Have a wonderful day!
> 
> Ellie


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